Man arrested after Sheffield United player bowled over during Nottingham Forest fan pitch invasion
A man has been arrested after Sheffield United captain Billy Sharp was knocked to the ground amid a fan invasion of the pitch following Nottingham Forest’s playoff win on Tuesday.
Forest advanced in the English Football League Championship promotion playoffs with a 3-2 penalty kicks win over Sheffield United thanks to goalkeeper Brice Samba’s three saves in the shootout.
Nottingham Forest fans stormed the field following the home win and Sharp was bowled over by a fan as part of the celebrations. You can see from the video above that the fan appeared to have his sights set on Sharp.
Nottinghamshire Police said that a 31-year-old male had been arrested on suspicion of assault and said an investigation into the alleged assault was ongoing.
Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom said after the match that what happened to Sharp was “cowardly” and that Sharp was “blindsided.” Nottingham Forest issued a statement after the game and said it was “appalled” at what happened to Sharp. The team said that the fan would be banned for life from attending the team’s games and apologized to Sharp and Sheffield United.
Sheffield United entered the second leg of the two-legged tie trailing by a goal and won 2-1 to send the playoff to penalty kicks. The PK win for Nottingham Forest means that it will play Huddersfield Town on May 29 for a spot in the Premier League in what’s termed the richest game in the world.
A win over Huddersfield would put Forest into the Premier League for the first time since 1998. Huddersfield Town was last in the Premier League in 2019. Fulham and Bournemouth finished in the top two spots in the Championship in 2021-22 to secure two of the three promotion spots to the Premier League. The three teams moving up from the Championship will take the Premier League spots of Norwich City, Watford, and one of Leeds, Burnley, or Everton.
